Dutch scale-up PlantLab granted US patent for indoor farming

Technology for urban farming now patented in 74 countries

In June 2017, after a formal opposition procedure, the company's European patent was granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). The US patent goes into effect, retroactively, as of 13 October 2008. PlantLab has already entered into licensing agreements with various parties for the use of its patents and is presently negotiating with several more with regard to licensing.

PlantLab's patent for indoor farming applies to the method used to control the root/substrate temperature as well as evaporation and crop leaf temperature. Many of the current indoor farming systems are potentially infringing the intellectual property of PlantLab.

Growth capital

Last week, PlantLab announced that it had received an initial investment of € 20 million of growth capital from Hoge Dennen Capital, the investment company founded by the De Rijcke family, the former owners of Kruidvat. PlantLab will use the investment to open indoor production locations in various locations including the Netherlands, the US, and the Bahamas.

Over the last 10 years, PlantLab has succeeded in developing an efficient and breakthrough technology for vertical farming. The new technology makes it possible to grow fresh, healthy, and delicious vegetables on a large scale very close to the consumer without using any chemical crop protection agents.

About PlantLab

PlantLab specialises in technology for innovative urban farming, the sustainable food supply of the future. The company was founded in 2010 in Den Bosch with the goal of optimising the production of food for our planet. Over the last 10 years, the company has already invested € 50 million in the development of technology that makes it possible to grow healthy, day fresh vegetables close to the consumer anywhere in the world without the use of chemical crop agents sustainably and environmentally friendly, while at the same time reducing water consumption to an absolute minimum. Enough crops can be grown on an area no bigger than two football fields to supply a city of 100,000 residents with 200 g of fresh vegetables every day. As the new technology can be used everywhere and always, it also makes it possible to radically shorten the logistic chain year round. The benefits: superior product quality, longer shelf life, much less food wastage, and no CO2 emissions or nuisance associated with long-distance transport. PlantLab aims to make its technology accessible to everyone and therefore bring fresh and sustainably grown food within reach for everyone.

Source: Goedemorgen